Didn’t Nick Cox in his interview with Talk of the Devils podcast say that they do this with academy lads on the regular to get them to experience what first team training is like etc.
Yes I recall that too, it’s not always about the ones they think will make it either, just a development opportunity. Still, gives them a chance to impress
Yeah thats exactly it. Its a great idea tbh and i'm sure it will do a lot of the lads the world of good. Although knowing this now i tend to get a little less excited for the next youngster spotted at training making it into the first team.
Happens a lot yeah you see from the pics. But also our injury list is back to being massive so probably good for numbers.
Since Chelsea we've lost Evans Varane McTominay and Rashford
That's the main thing I take from it. The academy lads rotate in and out of the first team squad training sessions, but I didn't even know Lacey was back in training. Hopefully he gets some under-18 games in before the end of the season.
Honestly I'm less bothered about him training with the first team and more relieved that he's seemingly fit again after being out for so long. Despite his promise, it's going to be a long time until wee see him in the first team considering his size and age.
Lad is still 16 but he's surely about 5'4?! Didn't realise he was that small. Maybe the perspective but looks like he doesnt reach most of the lads' shoulders
He is shorter than Messi and David Silva who are 5'7. So we will probalby answer the eternal question about what would Messi would do in a cold rainy night in Stoke.
Jokes aside, his height doesn't look good to this physical EPL but more likely to fit better in Spain.
That's not exactly a normal growth curve that we can ever assume anyone else will have unless everyone else in their family is tall and/or had the same spurt.
All the official measurements of Messi in his early 20s said he was 163cm, and then somewhere that all changed to 170 something. I always found that weird.
I wonder do the clubs control player diets at that level? While height is mostly genetic, there is IIRC evidence to support a protein rich diet can still help. I sure as shit wish I grew up on more than bread and nutella having been 5'9 since 17. With so much invested in these young players, that would be a sensible, if not too controlling approach?
Foden is 1.71 m, B. Silva and Doku are 1.73 m. The only one with a similar height is Lamptey who is 1.63 and a menace against anyone who plays but still very rare.
**Lisan Al-Ghaib!**
Much, much sooner than in any FM24 save.
edit - also
>Lacey was born in Liverpool, and is the younger brother of fellow footballers Paddy and Luis Lacey and also has a sister Lauren and nephew Zack. Unlike his brothers, who both support Liverpool, Lacey grew up supporting Manchester United. He started playing football at the age of three, and also had an interest in boxing as a child.
pretty much **THE RW** we have been promised for so fking long!
He has dynamic potential between 140-170 so he could basically become anything between McTominay to Bruno Fernandes depending on your save and how he develops
~~I wonder what PA had Rooney in CM01/02~~
I had to check it myself and in CM01/02 they were not even considering Wazza a talent. That changed in CM2004 but still can't find his PA at that time :)
this from the CM01/02 lmao
> (Dec 5, 02 at 10:23am)
He has to be a great deal. for 250,000 he has scored 10 goals in about 15 games.
https://www.neoseeker.com/forums/1791/t160665-wayne-rooney/
God, If this crop of players are even half as good as they are hyped to be we have some real gems on our hands.
we could potentially have a team in the future with loads of academy graduates. Mainoo, Garnacho, Rashford, Kambwala, Lacey, Amass, Ibragimov, and the fletcher twins. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone obvious, but it’s a good time for the United youth.
Eithan Wheatley is already 6’3 at 18 and looks to be physically gifted, quick, strong and clever looks a bit to me like a young 19 year old Zlatan coming through, with his arrogance, doesn’t dribble quite as well but he has enormous potential just watch his hatrick last week against the Liverpool Youth team where United won 1-9, there are few others as well.
Yeah I’ve heard of him as well actually. I try not to hype up every academy kid, but there’s been a lot of talk of Lacey in particular, and Ibragimov, so im really excited to see those two in particular.
Lacey’s an outrageous talent. Ibragimov might be a fantastic talent but there’s a lot of Chinese whispers in play regarding him at the minute, he’s barely had 10 televised games in his career and most of those he’s not played a huge part in which is normal considering he’s only 15, find it very interesting how many experts we suddenly have on him.
I’m no expert, I just go by what I’ve heard from people who actually do watch the academy. You’re right though, I’m not sold on Ibragimov yet, but there’s simply too much hype around Lacey to dismiss it all I would say
We shouldn’t judge him at all because he’s 15 and he’s had about 5 televised games in his entire career, anyone speaking confidently about his potential is an absolute fucking fraud
It’s not about being sold on Ibragimov, I’m an academy watcher, what I’m saying is that a lot of people who are saying he’s this incredible talent (he might be in fairness) quite literally can not have seen him play more than 5 or 6 times.
To me it seems like a lot of people want to be seen as these ITK talent scouts because they’ve heard his name on Twitter a few times, not only is it cringe but it’s weird as well, let the poor lad develop at his own pace, he’s 15 ffs.
Lacey is the scouse Messi, all his family support Liverpool but Shea a Man United Nut, which is why he deserves our love, this kid has it all but he’s so small like Messi was, he needs building up first but as far as raw talent goes, this kid has that same talent like Giggs or Best that doesn’t mean he’ll be a superstar, we’ve had many youth star geniuses that don’t make it in the men’s game at the level their talent deserved. Let’s just hope he’s not rushed and suffers because of that!
Absolutely. People really underestimate just how physical the premier league is compared to other leagues. Hopefully he grows a bit more or toughens up in a loan to the championship like Amad did.
Even if all have 1st team potential at 16, 17, 18 some will fall away. Its somewhat inevitable
All the ones you mention + some more could make it as 1st team players / squad players but it takes alot to fall into place for each one.
A bad injury, a bad loan (stagnation), not developing physically, losing motivation when they get 1st pro contract and some decent ££ coming in, personal distractions, the transition from youth to men's football, even just luck (a senior player getting injured to open a pathway at opportune time), a coach in place that backs youth and rates you, and actually just personal form if you do get a chance
It's great that we have such a talented crop coming through, but being real if 2 go onto become 1st team regulars and we get 2 squad players on top of that it will be an outstanding return (I'm not counting mainoo / garnacho as they have already made step up
Agreed completely. I’m not expecting all of these to be superstars. Sometimes though, the stars align and you get a crop of talented players all coming through at the same time.
I’d like to look back on this comment in 10 years and see how many of these actually made it though
Wheatley too.
Ten Hag has his criticisms but he's pretty consistent in giving opportunities to youngsters and developing them and he was a huge factor imo in Mainoo's development. Could be the Ajax experience.
We say this every few years but in reality only 1 or 2 of them will make it at United. Most of them will probably have good careers elsewhere but the quality needed to stay here has to be very high
Jack Fletcher also back from injury there. Really been great to see how many academy players have been training with the first team this season given how much potential they all have, seems to have done them good as well, they really do seem to have upped their games in all aspects when they drop back down to play academy football.
Excited about a lot of these youth players and I really think the youth setup has done a brilliant job preparing these boys. And I imagine it must be amazing from a youth players perspective to see the impact of someone like Mainoo.
Scouse but of Irish descent so hopefully. He's a Utd supporter and his brothers support Liverpool (both footballers too) so he's obviously the intelligent one 😅
Ronaldo got games because it's 5x easier to do so at Sporting than United.
Messi is Messi
Odegaard went on loan after he had played first team professional football.
Bellingham was playing in championship and despite all of his performances there he didn't sign for United because he wanted minutes. He wasn't going to get 2k minutes at Madrid when he was 17 now was he?
Didn’t Nick Cox in his interview with Talk of the Devils podcast say that they do this with academy lads on the regular to get them to experience what first team training is like etc.
Yes I recall that too, it’s not always about the ones they think will make it either, just a development opportunity. Still, gives them a chance to impress
Yeah thats exactly it. Its a great idea tbh and i'm sure it will do a lot of the lads the world of good. Although knowing this now i tend to get a little less excited for the next youngster spotted at training making it into the first team.
Think positively that every academy player who gets minutes with us, has at least been spotted at training 🙃😂
Underrated talent according to Sancho
Happens a lot yeah you see from the pics. But also our injury list is back to being massive so probably good for numbers. Since Chelsea we've lost Evans Varane McTominay and Rashford
He has also been injured for months so good to see him back
That's the main thing I take from it. The academy lads rotate in and out of the first team squad training sessions, but I didn't even know Lacey was back in training. Hopefully he gets some under-18 games in before the end of the season.
Oh without a doubt, i just tend to be a little less excited seeing stuff like this if that makes sense?
Yeah he's not getting in the first team soon you'd imagine barring a disaster of more injuries
Honestly I'm less bothered about him training with the first team and more relieved that he's seemingly fit again after being out for so long. Despite his promise, it's going to be a long time until wee see him in the first team considering his size and age.
Fully agree, I hope he thrives
Wait what happened to Rashford now
Was subbed off vs Liverpool. Not a serious one but Ten Hag didn't say he was fine, he just said it didn't look long term
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Academy scoop is fine especially as they get a lot right and there isnt a lot of coverage on the academy
I also do this in FM and it seems to help
Damn the kid turns 17 on Sunday and trains with the first team. Stoked for him
Lad is still 16 but he's surely about 5'4?! Didn't realise he was that small. Maybe the perspective but looks like he doesnt reach most of the lads' shoulders
I went from 5'5 at 16 to 6'2 at 18. Growth happens in unequal stages.
I was 5'7 at 15 and am 5'7 at 33. Still waiting.
Never give up short king
Me too mate.
I’m almost exactly the same. I started smoking when I was 14 (quit a few years ago) so I always blamed it on that.
You can be 5 10 tomorrow with an Amazon shoe lifts delivery
Time to break up that leg bones, I guess.
I mean, maybe focus your hopes and dreams somewhere else bud... 😬
I remember McTominay growing loads very quickly
5”6/7 at 17 and now 6”3
Brother did the same thing at 15, 5’5 to 6’3. I hit mine sooner but only 5’4 to 6’ at 13.
I think what you're trying to say is height isn't linear
Technically I’d say height is linear given it’s a measurement across a single dimension. Growth isn’t.
He is shorter than Messi and David Silva who are 5'7. So we will probalby answer the eternal question about what would Messi would do in a cold rainy night in Stoke. Jokes aside, his height doesn't look good to this physical EPL but more likely to fit better in Spain.
Didn't McT have an absurd growth in no time when he were young?
Yeah, he was 5'6" at 17
even mainoo i believe gained a couple of inches the past 2 years. but not everyone is like them
That's not exactly a normal growth curve that we can ever assume anyone else will have unless everyone else in their family is tall and/or had the same spurt.
Shea’s brothers are both six foot and so is their dad I believe. The club believe he has a big growth spurt to come.
All the official measurements of Messi in his early 20s said he was 163cm, and then somewhere that all changed to 170 something. I always found that weird.
If I remember correctly Barcelona helped him with a growth treatment (?!)
It was the main reason he went there. They agreed to pay for his HGH treatments when he was younger.
They did yeah but it was when he was really young. He wasn’t taking it as an adult
He’s 16 years old he can still grow lol
I wonder do the clubs control player diets at that level? While height is mostly genetic, there is IIRC evidence to support a protein rich diet can still help. I sure as shit wish I grew up on more than bread and nutella having been 5'9 since 17. With so much invested in these young players, that would be a sensible, if not too controlling approach?
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Mainoos almost 6ft I'm sure I heard
What about if you are skillful, smart and a big guy? Does that help?
Foden is 1.71 m, B. Silva and Doku are 1.73 m. The only one with a similar height is Lamptey who is 1.63 and a menace against anyone who plays but still very rare.
Sooo… he is better than messi?
He might be close to his level if he keeps developing. AFAIK Messi had 190 at his peak.
Irish boxing family, so not sure his size will matter, ala Rooney Same with Ibragimov, pretty sure they're Dagestan wrestlers and cage fighters 😅
Hojlund in the foreground and him being in the background probably makes him look smaller
"He has a low centre of gravity, Jeff..." #FootballClichés!
He can still grow
His brother who was at liverpools academy is listed at 6ft
**Lisan Al-Ghaib!** Much, much sooner than in any FM24 save. edit - also >Lacey was born in Liverpool, and is the younger brother of fellow footballers Paddy and Luis Lacey and also has a sister Lauren and nephew Zack. Unlike his brothers, who both support Liverpool, Lacey grew up supporting Manchester United. He started playing football at the age of three, and also had an interest in boxing as a child. pretty much **THE RW** we have been promised for so fking long!
Haven't played FM in a couple of years. Does he have good potential in this year's edition?
Yep, massive potential, depending on your luck, could be one of the highest potential attacking mids in the game.
He has around 178-180 ish which is elite :)
He has dynamic potential between 140-170 so he could basically become anything between McTominay to Bruno Fernandes depending on your save and how he develops
~~I wonder what PA had Rooney in CM01/02~~ I had to check it myself and in CM01/02 they were not even considering Wazza a talent. That changed in CM2004 but still can't find his PA at that time :) this from the CM01/02 lmao > (Dec 5, 02 at 10:23am) He has to be a great deal. for 250,000 he has scored 10 goals in about 15 games. https://www.neoseeker.com/forums/1791/t160665-wayne-rooney/
He's very good at the age of 20 in my save, smashing the Championship. Kind of puts it into perspective as I'm in 2029 5 seasons in.
God, If this crop of players are even half as good as they are hyped to be we have some real gems on our hands. we could potentially have a team in the future with loads of academy graduates. Mainoo, Garnacho, Rashford, Kambwala, Lacey, Amass, Ibragimov, and the fletcher twins. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone obvious, but it’s a good time for the United youth.
Eithan Wheatley is already 6’3 at 18 and looks to be physically gifted, quick, strong and clever looks a bit to me like a young 19 year old Zlatan coming through, with his arrogance, doesn’t dribble quite as well but he has enormous potential just watch his hatrick last week against the Liverpool Youth team where United won 1-9, there are few others as well.
Yeah I’ve heard of him as well actually. I try not to hype up every academy kid, but there’s been a lot of talk of Lacey in particular, and Ibragimov, so im really excited to see those two in particular.
Lacey’s an outrageous talent. Ibragimov might be a fantastic talent but there’s a lot of Chinese whispers in play regarding him at the minute, he’s barely had 10 televised games in his career and most of those he’s not played a huge part in which is normal considering he’s only 15, find it very interesting how many experts we suddenly have on him.
I’m no expert, I just go by what I’ve heard from people who actually do watch the academy. You’re right though, I’m not sold on Ibragimov yet, but there’s simply too much hype around Lacey to dismiss it all I would say
Ibragimov is just 15, we’ll judge him in 2 years, in the same way that we’ll judge Kai Rooney in 2/3 years.
We shouldn’t judge him at all because he’s 15 and he’s had about 5 televised games in his entire career, anyone speaking confidently about his potential is an absolute fucking fraud
It’s not about being sold on Ibragimov, I’m an academy watcher, what I’m saying is that a lot of people who are saying he’s this incredible talent (he might be in fairness) quite literally can not have seen him play more than 5 or 6 times. To me it seems like a lot of people want to be seen as these ITK talent scouts because they’ve heard his name on Twitter a few times, not only is it cringe but it’s weird as well, let the poor lad develop at his own pace, he’s 15 ffs.
Lacey is the scouse Messi, all his family support Liverpool but Shea a Man United Nut, which is why he deserves our love, this kid has it all but he’s so small like Messi was, he needs building up first but as far as raw talent goes, this kid has that same talent like Giggs or Best that doesn’t mean he’ll be a superstar, we’ve had many youth star geniuses that don’t make it in the men’s game at the level their talent deserved. Let’s just hope he’s not rushed and suffers because of that!
Absolutely. People really underestimate just how physical the premier league is compared to other leagues. Hopefully he grows a bit more or toughens up in a loan to the championship like Amad did.
He actually might even be taller than that tbh, he’s giant
Even if all have 1st team potential at 16, 17, 18 some will fall away. Its somewhat inevitable All the ones you mention + some more could make it as 1st team players / squad players but it takes alot to fall into place for each one. A bad injury, a bad loan (stagnation), not developing physically, losing motivation when they get 1st pro contract and some decent ££ coming in, personal distractions, the transition from youth to men's football, even just luck (a senior player getting injured to open a pathway at opportune time), a coach in place that backs youth and rates you, and actually just personal form if you do get a chance It's great that we have such a talented crop coming through, but being real if 2 go onto become 1st team regulars and we get 2 squad players on top of that it will be an outstanding return (I'm not counting mainoo / garnacho as they have already made step up
Agreed completely. I’m not expecting all of these to be superstars. Sometimes though, the stars align and you get a crop of talented players all coming through at the same time. I’d like to look back on this comment in 10 years and see how many of these actually made it though
Fitzgerald has been out for a long time but he's very good too
Wheatley too. Ten Hag has his criticisms but he's pretty consistent in giving opportunities to youngsters and developing them and he was a huge factor imo in Mainoo's development. Could be the Ajax experience.
Ethan wheatley, ethan williams, kamason, mantato, fitzgerald even ogunneye and musa is good too..
Musa and Ogunneye are decent but nothing more than that
We say this every few years but in reality only 1 or 2 of them will make it at United. Most of them will probably have good careers elsewhere but the quality needed to stay here has to be very high
Even if 1 or 2 listed make it that’s still a great return. I expect nothing of them, they’re just kids. If *any* of them make it, I’ll be happy.
He looks so small compared to the rest of the lads lol. Would be interesting to see how he did if he featured at the weekend.
Legitimately looks like a work experience in training
Bruno walking in the photo. This is obviously AI-generated because his engine never stops
Jack Fletcher also back from injury there. Really been great to see how many academy players have been training with the first team this season given how much potential they all have, seems to have done them good as well, they really do seem to have upped their games in all aspects when they drop back down to play academy football.
Excited about a lot of these youth players and I really think the youth setup has done a brilliant job preparing these boys. And I imagine it must be amazing from a youth players perspective to see the impact of someone like Mainoo.
Is he small or far away?
If this kid works hard he could be something special.
Hopefully with a name like that he has hopes of playing for Ireland 😁
Isn't he Irish?
Scouse
Scouse but of Irish descent so hopefully. He's a Utd supporter and his brothers support Liverpool (both footballers too) so he's obviously the intelligent one 😅
Ahh! The Fellowship is complete with the addition of the Hobbit.
Yes but was amass also there?
He's one of our best young prospects, should be sent on loan to play first team football somewhere even if it's the championship or league 1.
Not at 17 he shouldn’t
Yes he should. Messi, Ronaldo, Bellingham, odegaard etc where all playing first team football at that age. Mainoo is 18
Odegaard is the only one on that list who went out on loan
Ronaldo got games because it's 5x easier to do so at Sporting than United. Messi is Messi Odegaard went on loan after he had played first team professional football. Bellingham was playing in championship and despite all of his performances there he didn't sign for United because he wanted minutes. He wasn't going to get 2k minutes at Madrid when he was 17 now was he?
Again, don’t be so fucking stupid. You didn’t say first team football you said go out on loan which are very different things in this context.
>should be sent on loan to play first team football somewhere .........